Her World of Magic
by Gunpowder Cookies
Summary: AU: In which Lucy is in therapy, and Fairy Tail is simply a figment of her imagination. Can she ever heal and live normally, or will she remain attached to her fantasy world? Can either be a happy ending? Rating changed to T.
1. Her Past

**AN: My first multi chaptered Fairy Tail fanfic. I know, it's an odd idea, but I felt like exploring something outside of my usual writing style. In no way do I believe that Fairy Tail is really in Lucy's mind, but it's interesting to write about. This will probably be quite a short story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't really know how anybody could believe that Fairy Tail belongs to a spotty teenage girl who is obsessed with watermelon.**

* * *

><p>"Lucy… what's happening in Fairy Tail today?"<p>

"_**Erza's scary!"**_

A smile formed on the blond girl's face. "Erza's mad at Grey and Natsu."

"Why?"

"They destroyed her cake." Lucy took a sharp inhale of breath. "Ouch. That's got to hurt."

"_**Wasn't that a bit harsh, Erza?" Mirajane asks, leaning on the bar**_

"_**Those two need to learn to respect a woman and her cake. Especially if it's strawberry cheesecake."**_

"_**Let me get you another cake."**_

_**Lucy giggles and takes another sip of her banana milkshake. A milkshake that ends up on the floor when Natsu pounces on her.**_

"_**Natsu!" she fumes, whipping her head round to face him. The dragonslayer remains oblivious to the dark aura his friend is radiating.**_

"_**Wanna go on a mission?"**_

_**Lucy sighs and glances at the puddle that she had been enjoying under a minute ago. Yes, she is annoyed at the death of her milkshake, but she also needs to pay her rent.**_

"_**Sure!"**_

"Lucy, open your eyes."

_**The blond Celestial mage frowns. She doesn't like that voice. It cuts through her mind like a knife.**_

_**Natsu turns around, confused. "Luce?"**_

"Lucy?"

_**That voice again. Why won't it stop? Lucy clutches her head. Her nakama start to fret. Happy flies in helicopter circles around her. They're making her dizzy. She bites her lip to stop herself from screaming. She hates this, hates it!**_

"Lucy, open your eyes."

"N-no… please, no!" she stutters

"Why not?"

"If I open my eyes, Fairy Tail…"

"That's the intention. Open them."

Slowly, reluctantly, the girl opened her eyes and removed her hands. The warm, friendly guild around her disappeared. Instead, she was in that room. A room she was more familiar with than she liked.

Her counsellor's office.

Lucy fidgeted on the sofa, fiddling with the sleeve of her sweater. She knew that her counsellor would be examining her incredulously, probably writing some notes. The blond girl didn't want to look the woman in the eye. Instead, she focussed on the fishbowl. She didn't know the name of the goldfish, but in her mind it was Pisces.

"Lucy, can you look at me?" her counsellor asked. The girl complied. "Why didn't you want to open your eyes?"

_Because I hate this place. _Lucy thought bitterly. Knowing what trouble that would get her in, she mumbled a partly true answer. "Natsu and I are going on a mission because I need to pay my rent."

Her counsellor sighed, pushing her glasses up her nose. Ms Eastwood (she asked Lucy to call her Ann, but Lucy thought they were far from first name terms) was a prim, proper woman who wore smart suits and her hair in a bun. In Lucy's opinion, she seemed too upright to properly understand her clients.

"Lucy, tell me- why do you need to pay your rent?"

Lucy glared at the woman. Ms Eastwood was treating her like a child. "I'll get kicked out of my apartment if I don't."

"That's the problem Lucy. Said apartment doesn't exist."

Not wanting to answer, Lucy snuck a glance at the clock- and realised to her great pleasure that her session was up.

Ms Eastwood followed her gaze. Upon noticing the time, she sighed. "Okay Lucy, you can go now-"

Lucy got up.

"-When I'm done talking."

Her client plopped herself back onto the sofa in exasperation.

"First of all," her counsellor said, pushing her glasses up her nose, "Are you sure living on your own will help?"

Unable to answer with a nod or a shake of her head, Lucy murmured a reply. "I'm sure. I'm seventeen, you know."

Ms Eastwood raised an eyebrow. That said it all. Lucy was fully aware that her counsellor thought her insane enough to be in the hospital. Maybe she was.

"Well, if you're sure… now, for our next session, I want you to write up character profiles for your Fairy Tail friends."

"You mean my nakama?"

"Yes, your… nakama, as you like to put it. You may now leave."

Lucy was out of there in a matter of seconds.

Fairy Tail… what could she say? She'd never intended it to come to this.

* * *

><p>It had started when she was only six. Having just entered Primary School, they were set the task of writing their own fairy tales.<p>

So a six year old Lucy wrote a story about a boy who was raised by a dragon. His dragon left and the boy searched for him, gaining friends along the way. He never found his guardian, but lived a long, happy life with his friends. When the man was on his deathbed, his daughter was out picking flowers when she saw the dragon fly across the sky. Dropping her flowers, she ran to tell her father. He died happy, content that the dragon had returned to him once again.

She had titled the page-

"**My Fairy Tail"**

The other children mocked her spelling error as well as her story in general. They said that dragons were evil, that the story should have had a happier ending. Lucy was hurt, but she secretly loved her story. All the other children had written the same things; the boys had heroic men slaying monsters, whilst the girls had come up with sappy romance tales about damsels in distress being saved by their prince charming.

The looks on their faces when the teacher gave her a gold star had been priceless.

After that, they had to draw a picture from their fairy tale. Lucy drew her hero, the protagonist alongside his cat. She had intended her hero to have ginger hair, and his cat to be black. But all the other crayons were being used, so she made do with pink and blue.

Lucy took the drawing, story and gold star home to show her mother. Layla had smiled and stuck them onto the fridge.

* * *

><p>Four years later, Layla died. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, Lucy's kind, warm and caring mother was simply a corpse buried under several layers of soil in a garden of death.<p>

After the funeral, her father transformed. He became a different man. No, he didn't hit her or anything- though sometimes Lucy wished he would. Anything for him to display emotion, to stop being an empty shell of a man. Something to show that he still acknowledged her existence.

Fairy Tail started formulating properly when she hit puberty aged twelve. She had just started secondary school. Sure, she wasn't bullied, but she felt distant. Something within her caused the girl to be naturally isolated from the others. Lucy felt like a black sheep in a flock of white. Everyone was nice to her, sure, but it wasn't pure, the raw friendship Lucy found herself craving. And with no parents to turn to, she honestly didn't know how to cope.

The idea of the guild first came when she was doing chemistry homework. Tired of acids and alkalis, she had gone to the fridge for a drink.

When she closed the fridge door, her story and picture were on the floor. After so many years, the blue tack had finally given up. Lucy bent over, picked up the picture and was about to stick it back on when she noticed something.

**My Fairy Tail**

She felt a smile creep over her face. All she could think was _do fairies have tails?_

Lucy pondered on it for a few minutes before slipping the paper into her pocket.

* * *

><p>The next morning, whilst Lucy was munching on cornflakes and her father was reading a newspaper, she broke a taboo.<p>

She attempted to engage in conversation with her father.

"Dad?"

He remained silent.

Lucy was taken aback, but continued. "Do fairies have tails?"

Her father looked at her incredulously. "Fairies don't exist, Lucinda."

His daughter scowled. He passed it as hatred of her full name, but in reality she was disgusted at herself.

_Of course. What was I thinking?_

* * *

><p>That day, they learnt about constellations in Physics. The teacher showed them a map of stars and pointed out the lines between, showing how they made shapes. In particular, he showed them the zodiac signs, explaining how they aligned with the sun at certain points in the year.<p>

He was going through a list of the zodiac signs. "…Capricorn the goat is from December 22nd to January 19th, followed by Aquarius the water bearer…"

Lucy frowned. Something seemed odd.

Why was Aquarius the only human?

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

After class, Lucy stayed behind to ask her teacher a question.

"Sir, what kind of personality would Aquarius have?"

Her teacher stopped packing and turned to stare at her. "Pardon?"

The blond girl fiddled with the hem of her skirt. "If Aquarius were real, what sort of personality would she have?"

The man shook his head. "It's a constellation, Miss Heartphilia. It doesn't have a personality."

* * *

><p>That night, Lucy drew the twelve Zodiac. Not as dot-to-dot line drawings but as real, living creatures with personalities. She made Aquarius a mermaid with attitude, Aries a sweet but timid young lady, Leo flirtatious buy undyingly loyal to his true friends.<p>

And, strange as it may sound, she began to feel affection for her creations. She made them the Stellar Spirits and made them companions out of some of the minor spirits- the Canis Minor, Nikora, who ended up looking like a snowman. Lyra, the lyre, a young girl with the voice of an angel.

They became her friends.

* * *

><p>Erza was inspired by a real person. When Lucy was thirteen, she had been at her bus stop, playing Snake on her phone when a guy sauntered over and snatched it off her.<p>

"H-Hey!" Lucy had stuttered, jumping up angrily- only to be faced with an adolescent twice her brawn.

"I need to borrow this." He smirked. "You got a problem."

Lucy knew he wasn't 'borrowing' it. But what could she do? This boy scared her.

Luckily, she didn't have to do anything.

A woman placed her hand on the boy's shoulder. "Give the girl her phone back." The woman said coolly. The boy turned around, swiping her hand away and curling his into a fist.

"Why you-"

Then he stopped as he met the woman's gaze. Her intimidating gaze. The icy aura radiating off her was enough to silence him.

"Give back the phone." The woman deadpanned, although her eyes were threatening.

With a wail, the boy threw the phone at Lucy (who just managed to catch it) and took off.

The woman nodded, satisfied, then turned to Lucy.

"Are you okay?"

Lucy could only nod. She was awestruck at the woman's beauty. Fiery red hair, chocolate brown eyes and a strong but dazzling face. The woman smiled, reached into her bag and came out with…

…A cupcake?

The woman gave Lucy the treat before leaving.

* * *

><p>The rest of the guild came about in a similar way. Just people that Lucy saw or encountered, never people she actually knew. She took this people, wonderful people who only passed fleetingly through her life, and made them her friends. Her nakama.<p>

The only exception to this was Natsu. In her mind, Natsu was the pink haired protagonist of her fairy tale. He was Fairy Tail's first member, and her first friend.

Their world, the Fairy Tail world, evolved and grew. It became a part of Lucy, filling the empty space her parents had left. She was hardly aware as the real world faded into oblivion. In her mind she was Lucy Heartphilia, Stellar Spirit Mage and member of Fairy Tail.

Lucy's counselling started soon after she turned seventeen.

She came home from school and there was her father, clutching her drawings, her writing her friends. He had Fairy Tail clenched in his fist.

"What," he spat, thrusting the papers into her face, "Is this?"

Lucy had never been one for thinking on her feet. In the heat of the moment, she gave him the worst answer she possibly could.

"They're my friends. My nakama."

He stared at her for a few, long seconds before dumping the papers on the floor and marching off.

That was when he got her counselling.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Ummm… is it okay? I'm really not sure what people will think of this. So please, review and put me out of my misery. I'll probably look back on this story in a week and absolutely despise it, to be honest. This will be fairly short, five chapters at the very most (even that's being optimistic). I can't promise a date for the next update so bear with!<strong>

**Auf Wiedersehen! (That's German for goodbye).**


	2. Her New Home

**AN: I *sniffle* got reviews! And story alerts! And other nice things! *pukes from happiness* But seriously, thank you all. I was originally quite worried about this story, but you've all given me confidence. Now, with courage and an itunes playlist tailored specifically for this story, let us embark on chapter two!**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from a few shreds of sanity.**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2 – Her New Home<strong>

* * *

><p>…<em><strong>cigam fo dlrow a pu tliub uoy oS<strong>_

* * *

><p>It was raining. Grey clouds covered the sky; it seemed to Lucy as though she was being smothered.<p>

She'd been having that feeling a lot recently.

Her bus was late again. As Lucy approached the bus stop, she saw only four people. Two young men – neither of whom gave her a second glance – and an elderly couple. One of them, a woman, gave Lucy a warm smile as she approached and seated herself on the cold metal bench.

She tried to read her book, but to no avail. Her mind felt dull, stifled by the blanket of ash grey. She closed her eyes and tried desperately to take a breath. To Lucy, the air felt stale. Of course, she knew it wasn't the weather's fault. She was being suffocated by her life in general. She wanted to break free, to feel alive. And she was…

The edges of the blonde's mouth twitched upwards into what could be interpreted as a smile. Lucy was exuberated at the thought of finally living alone. Although she wouldn't really be alone.

She had Fairy Tail. Her nakama would be with her through the thick and thin.

* * *

><p>"<em>Natsu!" Lucy shrieked. Having just come out of the shower, she was wearing nothing but a fluffy white towel. And since the boiler was broken, the water was ice cold, making her crabbier than usual. Finding the pink haired moron on her bed didn't help.<em>

"_Hey, Luce!" he grinned. "I'm hungry!"_

_It took every inch of Lucy's being to not bash his head in with the nearest blunt object she could find. "Natsu." She said icily, giving the boy a frosty glare. "You are an adult. You are perfectly capable of getting your own food."_

"_If you do, I'll go on a mission with you."_

_Lucy froze. Mission… money… fixed boiler… warm showers. The girl sighed in defeat. "Sure, just let me get ready, m'kay?"_

"_Sure thing!" her partner replied before going to raid the fridge._

* * *

><p>Getting her own apartment had been surprisingly easy for Lucy.<p>

The day she asked her father, they had been in the kitchen. He was on his laptop, writing up something to do with his work whilst occasionally sipping his coffee; she was cutting up fruit to make a smoothie. After much internal debate, Lucy mustered up her courage and spoke.

"Dad?"

He mumbled in reply, not looking at her. Lucy couldn't help but think back to the last situation like this- when she had asked if fairies had tails.

This question was more sensible. "Can I get my own apartment?" she simply requested.

"Why?"

Lucy bit her lip. She had thought it all through, but she was still scared she'd get caught out on her lies. She spurted out a load of rubbish about her counsellor saying that living on her own would promote the independence she needed to forget about Fairy Tail.

Her father either didn't notice her dishonesty or didn't care. He finally looked up at her, staring straight into her eyes. "Very well."

He set her a budget, she chose an apartment.

That was the closest to family bonding that had ensued between the two for seven years.

* * *

><p>"<em>Lu-chan!" Levy sang as her friend entered the guild. Said blonde grinned before sitting next to her fellow bookworm. Levy grinned. "So, how's the new chapter going?"<em>

"_Horribly." Lucy replied. "I've got chronic writer's block."_

_Her blue haired friend groaned. "Awww. And you left on such a cliffhanger."_

"_I know, I know. I'll have it done next week, okay? Actually, make that two weeks. Natsu and I are going on a mission." Upon noticing a certain shirtless ice mage arguing with her teammate, she quickly added Gray's name to the team list… and Erza's._

_The team selected a fairly simple job- they had to defeat a group of dark mages who had been stalking in the woods around a small town and had taken a handful of women hostage._

_They would have __infinite fun__ beating those jerks up._

* * *

><p>Upon arriving home, the first thing Lucy did was have a shower- a warm, steamy one. After the grey, dreary weather outside, the blonde thought of this as a few minutes in heaven.<p>

When she had washed, dried and dressed, Lucy couldn't help but look in the mirror and frown. She hated her appearance. Dull blonde hair reached her shoulders, thin and wispy. She was slender, but not effeminate- throughout High School, it had been made clear that Lucy's lack of curves was unnatural. True, she had slight hips, but nothing like the hourglass figures revered for their beauty. And her lack of bust was the reason most boys paid her no attention.

She was milky pale, freakishly so, with a willowy figure. Dark bags hung underneath her eyes.

Her eyes. They were one of the few things Lucy liked about herself. They were a rich russet brown, deep and powerful. Lucy disliked most of her physical features, but, looking in the mirror, she smiled as she stared into her own soul.

It wasn't that Lucy had anything physically wrong with her; she was simply an unlucky person who wasn't gifted with beauty. But she didn't want to be - she was too plain, too average. All throughout her childhood, she had dreamt of becoming like Layla, a woman so majestic, so charming and so stunning that, in Lucy's eyes, there was no woman finer than her mother.

When Lucy began to live in Fairy Tail, she modelled herself after what she wished to be- a busty, golden haired beauty who dressed as she wished, lit up the world with her smile and had complete confidence in her looks.

Something else the real Lucy had never experienced was love. She'd had boyfriends, but…

Her first boyfriend had been one of her best childhood friends, and they went out because it seemed like a good idea at the time. It didn't work, and the two suddenly found being in each other's presence awkward. Their friendship drifted apart.

Her second boyfriend only went out with her because she was blonde, and dumped her the moment he saw a larger chested woman. Pervert.

Her third boyfriend had been kind, very kind. Chivalrous in that he did everything for her; including thinking. Somehow, he must have got it into his brain that Lucy was either mentally retarded or that she wished to simply be a doll to hang off his arm.

Her fourth boyfriend had actually been perfect. He made Lucy smile, made her laugh, caused her heart to flutter wildly. That boy made her feel _special_. Then she made one of the most idiotic moves she could have possibly could; she told him about Fairy Tail. She showed him her drawings, told him about her nakama. He broke up with her and told all his friends. And so every male in the school knew it- Lucy Heartfilia was a freak.

She gave up on romance after that, instead deciding to devote herself even more to becoming a strong mage. In fact, that was around the time she gained Loke's key- Loke, who forever commented on her beauty, who stood beside her as a comrade. Leo, her strongest spirit.

This was also around the time that her feelings for Natsu began to develop. Well, it wasn't like that was when they _started_. Before, they had been a seed, gradually germinating. They had been growing for a while. It just happened to be that the shoot first began emerging from the soil around the same time that she gave up on real world men. Lucy had always been fond of her dragon boy, of course, but loneliness and rejection caused her heart to now reach of for him.

Shaking her head, she ended her requiem of thoughts and went down for dinner. Her father wasn't home yet, the fridge was desolate, and Lucy wasn't in the mood for a meal; instead, the girl made herself some _Cup of Soup _accompanied with a slice of bread before deciding to go to bed.

Her room was packed with boxes. These structures of cardboard sent that same wave of excitement through the teenager. For tomorrow she would be moving into an apartment of her own. The boxes were filled with personal possessions- items of large furniture were already in her soon-to-be-home. True, she would be on her own in her new apartment, but that didn't mean she would be alone. She had company- even if said company consisted of imaginary friends.

No, they weren't imaginary. They were her nakama. They were magical and they were always beside her.

She _needed_ them. Therefore, they _had _to be real.

* * *

><p>Lucy flopped onto the sofa. Who knew that moving could be such trouble? After a day of carrying her boxes of personal possessions up, buying groceries, running to her counselling session <em>then <em>unpacking her boxes. Lucy wanted nothing more than to sleep. She had been up since 6 am, and was pretty sure it had to be at least 7 pm by now.

She just managed to make herself a cup of hot chocolate before succumbing to her desires. Putting the hot drink on her bedside table, she clambered –fully dressed – under the covers.

Just like that, she was back in Fiore.

* * *

><p>"<em>Natsu!" Lucy shrieked. The sick dragonslayer was splayed across the seat, his head on her lap. And he was drooling all over her favourite skirt.<em>

"_Hate…trains…"_

_With one shove, he was pushed onto the floor where he continued to be sick. Gray laughed and Erza looked upon Natsu with disapproval._

"_Lucy's so mean!" Happy wailed, pointing his paw at her accusingly._

"_What the hell?"_

Footsteps.

"_Is someone coming?" Lucy asked Erza. The Titania stared at her questioningly._

They were getting louder.

"_Someone's coming. Can't you hear it?" The celestial mage said frantically, turning to Gray. He raised a quizzical eyebrow._

And the footsteps seemed loud, painfully loud. Lucy squeaked and put her hands over her ears but they continued.

And then she opened her eyes and found that she was staring at the ceiling. She could still hear the footsteps padding around. Biting her lip, the girl realised.

Somebody was in her apartment.

Heart beating frantically, she reached for the nearest weapon – her unplugged lamp – and gingerly got out of bed. Whoever was in there seemed to not understand subtlety; their stamping was obvious. Supressing the urge to scream, she positioned herself next to the door. The girl heard them approach. The knob turned. The door opened, slowly…

Lucy struck out, throwing herself at the intruder-

-and missed.

With a surprised yelp, she tumbled onto the carpet. Her near-victim let out a yell and leapt away from her, but stumbled and crashed onto the floor with a _thud_. Still brandishing her lamp, Lucy got up, fingers searching the wall desperately for a light switch.

When the lights came on, she found herself staring into some oddly familiar onyx eyes.

The boy on the floor rose up. And, as if Lucy hadn't tried to attack him for breaking into her apartment, he grinned and extended out a hand.

"You're the new girl, right? I'm Natsu- nice to meet ya!"

_Thunk._ Lucy dropped the lamp.

* * *

><p>Surreal as it was, the two teenagers ended up in Natsu's apartment (which was next door to Lucy's and a whole lot messier) eating Pot Noodle.<p>

"So…" Lucy said cautiously as she stroked the boy's pet cat. "Why exactly were you in my apartment?"

The strawberry blonde haired boy slurped up a Chinese Chow Mein flavoured noodle and grinned at her. "I wanted to say hi!"

The blonde rolled an eye. "In the dead of the night?"

"So?"

The two sat in comfortable silence before Lucy spoke up. "So… what's with the name?"

"Hmm?"

"Well, I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but Natsu…"

"My mom was half Japanese. It means 'summer'."

"Aaah." Lucy nodded. Come to think of it, his skin did seem lightly tanned. And summer seemed to suit him- he made her feel warm, if only because of the Pot Noodle.

"So, you're…?"

"Lucy."

"Well…I'm gonna call you Luce!"

She was instantly reminded of her mother, but smiled anyway.

"What's the cat called?"

"Happy."

Lucy choked on her noodle.

Natsu didn't quite mistook her reaction. "Hey! I came up with it when I was ten, okay?"

His companion could barely stop spluttering. How on earth… where was she, coincidence land?

After a failed attempt at the Heimlich Manoeuvre, they carried on to spend the next couple of hours just talking. Lucy couldn't remember the last time she'd had a conversation that flowed so easily. She was chatting, she was smiling, she was laughing and she was _glowing._ She felt as though, for a small amount of time, her mother had never died, that her father was caring and affectionate. She felt _special._

Lucy learnt a lot about Natsu. He was eighteen and had left school aged sixteen. He worked part time as a waiter at a nearby café run by one of his childhood friends. Natsu had been raised by his godfather, Igneel, and had two 'siblings' of sorts.

"What about you?" he asked.

"Nothing special."

Her eyes basically screamed that she was being secretive, but Natsu decided to leave it alone. Instead, he attempted to brighten the situation by different means. "So, are you busy tomorrow? My shift ends at four, so we can meet up and just hang out. If you want."

Lucy bit her lip. Her counselling session was at four… _ah, screw it._

"Sure!" she replied, grinning.

* * *

><p>Once she had left, Natsu frowned, dumping himself on the sofa as he ran a hand through his hair. Why did he feel that he had met her before? What was this called… déjà vu?<p>

Unable to comprehend whether or not he had previously met the blonde, he shrugged it off and went to sleep.

* * *

><p><em><strong>.cigart si efil laer ruoy esuaceB…<strong>_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: …Woah, I still don't like this chapter. Took a while to write and I don't like it. But hey, a chapter is a chapter. What I love about this story is that it's evolved- I came up with a basic idea, then it grew and flourished. Unexpected, in a way. I have five chapters planned for this, so stick around !<strong>

**PS: Those weird gibberish words at the beginning and end? Work it out.**

**See you next chapter!**

**~Meg**


	3. Her Nakama

**AN: You guys are too nice. Seriously, I was squealing like a five year old when I read your comments.**

**Hmmm.. many of you have different theories on this and how Natsu popped up. Well, I decided to perhaps make it 6 chapters long, simply because I don't want to condense the story. **

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. I just own this particular story.**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3: Her Nakama<strong>

* * *

><p><em>Did you know? Everybody has dreams…<em>

* * *

><p>The next morning, Lucy woke at some ridiculously early time in the morning, fully alert. For some reason, she felt more alive than she had in weeks; the goofy grin on her face was beginning to hurt.<p>

After lying in bed for fifteen minutes, she took a shower. For half an hour. She was giddy, excited, childish. And after that- _ahhh, what the heck_- she ended up eating bananas with butterscotch for breakfast, not caring about her weight or health or _anything. _

Lucy glanced at the time. It was nine o'clock. Only seven hours left to go.

She spent about half an hour just choosing an outfit. Usually, Lucy would just wear whatever was comfortable, but her new found energy seemed to require something more… appealing.

After digging through her drawers, she found some clothing that she didn't even know she owned. A denim miniskirt (when had she last worn one of those?) and a lime green tank top. It was the best dressed she had been in a while.

Noticing that the weather wasn't exactly warm, she threw on some dark tights, a black jacket and converse. Looking in the mirror, she grinned, not for the first time that morning. She felt upbeat, happy. Lucy even had the confidence to wear her signature Fairy Tail hairstyle, with a part of her hair tied up into a side ponytail. It was odd, but she was elated, glowing with happiness.

Nevertheless, she couldn't help but notice that the rain had yet to stop.

* * *

><p>Natsu Dragneel's life had been… surreal.<p>

So surreal that he wanted to scream.

So surreal that sometimes, he'd just light a match and _watch it. _Watch it burn and feel as though he was part of that flame. And when it was extinguished, so was he. When he forgot to extinguish it, those times that the fire crept its way to his fingertips and burnt them, he was reminded of just what a failure he was. He was a flame and flames always burn out eventually, no matter how brilliant they are.

His "father" referred to his "son's" behaviour as "pyromania". Apparently, "people just like him" used flames as a way to "vent out stress or emotion".

Natsu didn't care, because he was going to snuff out one day anyway, right? Like a flame: no matter how hard he tried to burn, his existence would eventually fade into nothing. The boy knew he would die someday, so what was the point?

His father… all his efforts to fight had been in vain. Pointless, really. At the time, Natsu hadn't understood the definition of malignant melanoma; all he'd understood was that his Daddy was sick. Natsu remembered his own words with painful clarity, down to the exact pitch of his voice. _"But sick people can get better, right?"_

Daddy couldn't. That was one candle out.

Three months later, he was by the lake. Natsu couldn't remember how he got there, nor did he intend to leave. It was three am, way past his bedtime, but he couldn't get into the house without Mama.

And she was in the lake, staring at the moonlit sky, her hair floating around her like a painting. She didn't get out, didn't dry herself off, didn't ruffle her son's hair and take him home.

Her candle was doused out. Two down, one to go.

Natsu Dragneel became an orphan when he was seven years old, the only flame left. A lone candle trying desperately to illuminate a room far too large; it would only be a matter of time before the flame died away and all was plunged into darkness.

His new family tried, they really did. They treated him as if he'd lived there forever, helped him with his homework, introduced them to his friends.

He didn't bother being grateful though. Why try to feed such a small, insignificant flame when there were bigger, better things out there? They were stupid for trying.

They weren't, however, because they succeeded. On his tenth birthday, Igneel gave him a gift, one that transformed the pitiful flame of his candle into a sun, one that lit up his entire life.

Happy.

He found himself doting on his pet kitten, loving the way it would lick its paws, never minding when the feline slept on his bed and got cat hair everywhere, laughing at its eager reaction to fish.

Natsu had called his companion Happy because that was how he felt.

He also stopped wetting the bed after that (yes, he wet the bed as a ten year old. It was embarrassing, but at least his family were kind about it). Natsu started hanging out with new people, began to mess around like a typical boy. He began to smile, a wide grin that became his trademark.

For seven years, he had been blissfully happy. And he still was.

_But where, oh where, had he seen that girl before?_

* * *

><p>By the time four o'clock came around, Lucy's giddiness had turned sour. She was nervous. Very, very nervous.<p>

Staring at the sign of the "Pixie Café", she bit her lip and fiddled with the edge of her skirt. Her _miniskirt_. Suddenly, she was less confident in her clothing. Why had she gone and confused herself with the Fairy Tail Lucy? The real Lucy wasn't pretty nor confident (in her low opinion).

On the bright side, the rain had reduced to a light drizzle. That was about all the optimism she could muster.

Lucy stared at her feet, shuffling awkwardly. She really, really didn't know what to-

"Hey, Luce!"

With a start, she looked up into the beaming face of her friend, eyes widening at his sudden appearance. Oh, and the fact that he was _completely invading her personal space_.

Somehow unable to move, Lucy stuttered out a reply. "H-hey, Natsu…" she said, her voice going high pitched at the end. Internally, she cursed her stupid nerves. They were just hanging out, right?

"Uhh… Luce? You okay?"

"I'm fine!" she answered rather quickly, leaving an awkward silence. She stared into his eyes like a rabbit in the headlights, he stared into hers quizzically.

Finally though, he threw an arm round her shoulder.

"Let's get going then! I really want ice cream…"

His arm was… warm. Very. Lucy allowed herself to relax. "Natsu, have you even noticed the weather? It's not exactly prime ice cream time, is it?"

"It's always ice cream time!"

And with that she giggled, the first laugh out of the many that would occur that day.

* * *

><p>"No way! You're joking, right?" she spluttered, clutching her stomach as her entire body shook with laughter.<p>

"I'm not! Transport is evil, I'm telling you!"

"Right, right. You go on thinking that." Lucy replied, wiping tears from her eyes.

The two had walked around the park before buying the oh-so-desired ice cream and from then on… it had been interesting. Natsu had tried feeding the ducks Lucy's ice cream. When they didn't come, he chased them, leaving Lucy to run after him. After being chased out by a hoard of ducks and angry parents, they'd then found their way to the cinema, yet the movie they desired to watch (an action comedy that was, in Natsu's words "Friggin' awesome!" and, in Lucy's words "looked different and intriguing") was sold out. Instead, they ended up watching a children's cartoon about a zebra that solved mysteries (which was surprisingly good).

Now they were in Lucy's apartment, once again eating Pot Noodle whilst talking.

Natsu narrowed his eyes at Lucy. "Okay, your turn to tell something embarrassing."

"Wait, what?"

"Go on. Make it even!"

Lucy twiddled a noodle on her fork, wondering what to say. Anything largely personal was out of the question, so….

"What's this?"

Looking up from her pot, Lucy shrieked and charged at Natsu as she swiped the papers out of his hand. Unfortunately for the blonde, one sheet fell to the floor.

Natsu dove to the floor and grabbed it, reading aloud.

"_As the rich sunset draws near_

_My heart will hold you dear…_"

He burst out laughing, punching the floor as tears streamed from his eyes. "Poetry! ROMANTIC POETRY!"

This subsequently lead to Lucy dumping her chicken and mushroom Pot Noodle on his head.

* * *

><p>"Well…sorry, Luce." he stated. Lucy frowned. After the previous shenanigan, she had calmed down and was now attempting to wash the noodle out of Natsu's hair.<p>

"What do you mean?"

"Huh? Don't girls like it when things go to plan?"

"What didn't go to plan?"

"We were chased outta the park by a mob of ducks, watched _Detective Stripes_ and now you're washing my hair. That wasn't planned."

Lucy chuckled, fishing another string of noodle out and dumping it in the bin. "It's okay. Besides, _Detective Stripes_ was badass."

"Not as badass as I am."

"You go telling yourself that, chicken and mushroom head."

There was a comfortable silence whilst Lucy, content that all the noodle was out of her friend's hair, squeezed in shampoo and began to gently lather his hair.

"…Luce?"

"Yeah?"

"Wanna do that again?"

"Of course."

She forgot what was so important about four o'clock.

* * *

><p>"<em>Mamma?"<em>

"_Yes, darling?"_

"_Look! Look!"_

"_Look at what?"_

"_See! A star! A gold star!"_

"_Let me see…"_

…

"_Is it good, Mamma? Is it good?"_

"_No."_

"…_B-but…"_

"_It's wonderful, Luce."_

"_R-really?"_

"_Yes. Let's put your Fairy Tail on the fridge, shall we?"_

"_Okey dokey!" _

* * *

><p><em>She hated mornings.<em>

_She hated getting up._

_She hated funerals._

_She loved her Mamma._

_She hated her Mamma's funeral._

_She hated the priest that droned on._

_She hated the cold, empty church._

_She loved her Mamma._

_She hated the ugly gravestone they gave her._

_She hated the ugly gravestones that surrounded her._

_She hated watching the coffin be lowered into the ground._

_She loved her Mamma._

_She hated the people fussing over her loss._

_She hated the black shoes she had to wear that pinched her feet._

_She hated the fact that her father wouldn't look at her._

_She loved Layla Heartfilia._

* * *

><p>"<em>Mamma?"<em>

"_What?"_

"_I wanna go home. It's cold out here."_

"…"

"_W-why are you crying? I-it's not that cold! I'll stay?"_

"_Natsu, promise me something."_

"_Yeah?"_

"_Like your name… warm your surroundings. Be joyful and bright, like the summer. I am the spring, melting into your summer."_

"_Huh? I don't understand..."_

"_Just be happy, okay? I-I want my baby to be happy."_

"_I'm not a baby! I'm seven!"_

"_You'll always be my baby. And you'll always be happy for your mommy- right?"_

"_Okey dokey!"_

* * *

><p><em>He loved his presents.<em>

_He loved the balloons._

_He loved his birthday cake._

_He hated the candles._

_He loved the music._

_He loved the way they sang so tunelessly._

_He loved it when Igneel scooped him into a bear hug._

_He hated the candles._

_He loved the cards._

_He loved the food._

_He loved becoming eleven._

_He hated the candles._

_He loved his new kitten._

_He loved its soft fur._

_He loved watching it go crazy over fish._

_He hated the flames._

* * *

><p>"Hey, Natsu?" she asked absentmindedly, fingering his now clean locks of strawberry blonde hair.<p>

"Yeah?"

"Pick an element."

"Umm… " Natsu thought for a second or so before deciding. "Fire."

Lucy chuckled slightly. "Of course."

"What do you mean, of course?" He said indignantly.

"Nothing." She replied innocently.

He snapped his head round to look at her. "Awww, Luce! Weirdo!"

"Stop it! I'm still washing your hair!"

* * *

><p>They finally parted at eleven forty-five pm, promising each other to hang out together again- and to definitely rewatch <em>Detective Stripes.<em>

When she closed the door, Lucy allowed herself to just _laugh. _To laugh with relief, with happiness.

That night, she went to sleep with a smile on her face.

* * *

><p>"<em>So, are we ready to go then?" Erza asked, sword in hand. Lucy fingered her keys and nodded, Gray and Natsu grinned, and Happy answered with a trademark "Aye!"<em>

"_Let's go beat up some douchebags!" Natsu yelled, punching the air. Lucy couldn't help but grin, then remembered their mission and took on a more determined expression. They had some kidnapped girls to save, and Lucy was __not__ going to go easy on these guys._

_They had already met their client, already prepared. All that was left now was to fight._

* * *

><p>That night, Natsu didn't sleep at all. He lay awake, attempting to find a reason for the weird recognition he felt.<p>

A shame, really. Because, had he slept, he would have known. For a night, at least.

* * *

><p>…<em>But 90% of our dreams are forgotten upon awakening.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay, so this wasn't the best of chapters. I was planning for this whole dramatic thing to happen here, but I felt that I needed to slow down and spend some time developing the characters before rushing in. I promise you all that the next chapter will be better! Thank you all for sticking by me!<strong>

**¡Hasta lavista!**


	4. Her Defeat

**AN: Procrastination is a powerful art, and I seem to be a master of it. To all those reading this, I would like to apologise for the late update. I write oneshots and all simply to avoid updates… but that shall be no longer! This is the penultimate chapter.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. What do I own? I'll get back to you on that one.**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4: Her Defeat<strong>

* * *

><p>And so the days went by. The days went by, and Lucy's worlds began to merge. Reality wasn't hostile anymore, nor was Fairy Tail childish. They were one and the same, and she was in eternal bliss. She went about her day as though in a dream, gliding joyously from event to event.<p>

When she was hanging out with Natsu (often) it was even better. They weren't poised on the brink of adulthood, she wasn't in therapy, he wasn't a pyromaniac- they were just two teenagers messing around and doing whatever the hell they wanted. This ranged from climbing trees to performing the menthos and coke experiment… on a bus. And Lucy had lost count of the amount of times they had re-watched _Detective Stripes_. Sure, it didn't do wonders for their reputations, but did they care? No. Not at all. They were free, free from the bonds of 'being polite'. They were just teenagers, and nobody expected anything else of them.

And boy, the look on the bus driver's face had been hilarious.

She didn't dream of Fairy Tail anymore, for some odd reason- when she did, it was only flashbacks of past events, nothing that was happening presently. This both pleased and worried Lucy. She liked the fact that she could live normally, that she was living in the real world. But, at the same time, she felt uneasy. Fairy Tail had been her loyal friend and companion all throughout her childhood; now, it had abandoned her. A sense of foreboding came over, desperation to have the comfort of her imaginary world back, a sanctuary to hide in.

Lucy didn't tell anyone though; just let this sickening feeling grow. That had always been her problem- she was too reluctant to open up and let her emotions free. And so, like a caged animal, these emotions paced back and forth, growing more and more dangerous as time went by.

Her defeat had been inevitable.

* * *

><p>One nice and grey afternoon, Lucy sat at the bus stop on her way to the Pixie Café for yet another afternoon of havoc. Currently, she was sending a text informing Natsu that she had missed the previous bus.<p>

_Sent._

As she got up the get on the approaching bus, somebody brushed past her, knocking the phone out of her hand. Dropping to the ground and scrabbling around to find it, she turned to see who had knocked her- and froze.

Scarlett hair. Heart Kreuz armour. A sword.

And then Lucy blinked- Erza was gone, and so was her bus.

So she sat down as the rain began, waiting for the next one, unable to text because her phone was out of credit. Not that she would have been texting anyway- Lucy was staring at the people passing by.

A man with no shirt casually sauntered along. Next, a silver haired woman. A cloud of blue haired skipped past her, using a book as an umbrella. On and on they came, the crowd becoming more and more dense until Lucy couldn't see past the solid mass of her nakama.

And then they started talking and their voices – nothing but an unintelligible babble – filled her ears and her mind, growing louder and louder, more and more aggressive, more savage. Lucy clutched her head, shaking it, waiting for her hallucinations to just _go away. _She felt as though the voices were beating her into submission, snapping her fragile tether to normality. And then they reached their crescendo and the poor girl finally snapped.

"STOP!"

When she looked up, she saw a scene of carnage. They had stopped; stopped living, that is. She was staring at the dead bodies of her friends. And one person was standing in the middle of them, grinning manically.

Lucy stared at herself, her beautiful Fairy Tail self, stared at her blood stained clothes, face, hair.

With a whimper of fear, she ran away from the bus stop, down the street, away from her guilt.

* * *

><p>Natsu stared at his phone (fondly nicknamed "lameass piece of junk"). He stared at Lucy's perfectly worded text that had been cut off halfway.<p>

Instead a question lay at the bottom.

**Do fairies have tails?**

The boy stared, open mouthed, at the message. His brain went into overload, remembering.

He remembered.

He remembered it all.

"Natsu!" his fellow employee yelled. "Stop slacking! Table 3 wants banana bread!"

Shoving lameass piece of junk in his pocket, Natsu went back to work.

But he remembered, and that was all that mattered.

* * *

><p>Lucy continued to sprint until her sides split in pain and she bent over, breathing heavily. Panting, she leaned on a nearby wall and brushed her hair out of her face, feeling how sodden with sweat it was.<p>

It was a hallucination. Just a temporary moment of insanity, that was all.

With a moan, she sank down until she was sitting on the –sodden- pavement. Lucy didn't care, as she had more important matters at hand.

Why now? She had been doing so well. For a while, Lucy had thought that she was normal; or at least not _batshit crazy. _Believe it or not, the girl had actually thought that Fairy Tail had settled, that she was forgetting about it and could carry on. But no, her made up guild was out to get her.

She was under siege from her own imagination, and it wasn't letting her go easily. Lucy realised that she was being stretched on a rack of her own making.

Hugging her knees, she closed her eyes as the images flitted across her mind.

_No…not this. Where were the others? One minute, they were surrounded by the enemy guild, ready for battle- now, Lucy was alone with a man who was, quite frankly terrifying. Her keys and whip had mysteriously disappeared and he was taking great pleasure in torturing her._

_She bit back a scream as he twisted her arm further; she was a mage of Fairy Tail, and would not back down so easily. Not even when her arm felt as though it was burning, not even when her lip was bleeding due to her strong bite. She was not going to give in, no matter what._

_He released her arm, and she sighed in relief- a mistake. This time she had become complacent, trying to reorder her thoughts, and could not restrain herself when he grabbed a clump of her hair and yanked it. Lucy gasped, then clenched her jaw shut and returned to silence._

_But that had been enough. Her captor chuckled slightly._

"_So we can react, can we princess? Good. They're more fun when they crack."_

_And then he used his magic and Lucy had to use every inch of her being to stop herself from crying out. It was as though there was something inside her trying desperately to scratch its way out._

_All it took was a hard kick in the back for her to finally scream out._

"Hey! Weirdo lady!"

Lucy opened her eyes to see a girl, probably ten or so, holding out an umbrella with an incredulous look on her face. "What, do you _want_ a cold?"

The blonde teen could only shake her head dumbly, causing the girl to snort with irritation. "Dummie." She muttered before striding away.

Taking the girl's advice, Lucy got up and staggered along, feeling as though an anvil had just been dropped on her. This didn't make sense-she was happier now, so why was Fairy Tail intent on hindering her progress?

No, she wasn't going to think about that. She needed to calm down and think. Think think think…

Oddly enough, 'rent' was the first word to pop into her head. Thinking fast (and trying not to let her thoughts stray towards Fairy Tail) she formulated a plan: Go home. Talk to father about rent. Yes, that seemed like a good plan. Her father was real, her father was not imaginary. Allowing herself a few moments to gather her bearings, she headed off to her old home.

Would she have done so if she'd known that such an action would crush her remains?

* * *

><p>The customer, a teenager of around sixteen, smiled at Natsu as he served her, twiddling her hair flirtatiously.<p>

If the girl was hoping for a reaction, she was disappointed- he just dumped her pineapple upside down cake on the very edge of the table and knocked it off as he walked away.

His co-worker, a feisty, no nonsense girl stormed up to him. "Natsu, what's up with you today? I can't keep on cleaning up after you."

Natsu stared at her, then blinked and returned to his usual self. "Jeez, you're always such a sourpuss. Just relax, I'll get the girl another cake."

Five minutes later, he brought the girl carrot cake. His co-worker snapped and told his boss and he was sent away for the day.

Normally, the boy would just take this as an opportunity to hang out with Lucy. But today, he didn't feel like he could confront her, not yet. He needed time to gather his bearings, so he sat in the park, staring at the pond as he tried to keep his thoughts where they should have been, where they had been for the last seven years.

But they kept on coming, and Natsu finally had to accept the fact that he was a Fairy Tail mage.

* * *

><p>Lucy let herself in with the keys that she had kept (fortunately.)<p>

"Father? Can I talk to you?"

She heard moving in the direction of his study- good, it seemed like he was going to talk to her. The door opened and she turned to address him.

"Father? I'm here to talk about-"

"-Lucinda, be quiet. "

She obeyed.

Her father strode up and down the hallway, arms behind his back in a businesslike manner. Almost instinctively, Lucy began to creep back inside herself, to force her face blank in order to cut him off from her emotions.

He fixed her with an icy stare to which she remained neutral, refusing to back down.

"Lucinda," he repeated. "Ms Ann Eastwood has contacted me. It has now come to my attention that you have been missing your counselling sessions. Am I right?"

"Yes, father."

"Care to tell me why, Lucinda?"

"Yes, father." She droned once again.

"That wasn't a yes or no question. Now, explain loudly and clearly."

Her voice had a sharp edge to it. "I don't believe that I require Ms Eastwood's services anymore, father. I believe that I do not need therapy."

At this he turned around fully. "So we've abandoned our imaginary friends, have we?"

Now Lucy found herself in the corner. Because what was the answer? 'No, but I hallucinate about killing them now, so it's fine?'

And so she lied through her teeth. "Yes, father."

He nodded before turning around and returning to his study, only to come out again five seconds later with a sheaf of paper. He stood in front of her and held one out- Juvia looked upon her with the subtle trace of a smile, which Lucy returned out of habit.

Her smile soon faded when the water mage's image was torn in half.

At that moment, she lost it- all spindly threads of sanity that had held her together snapped, and she fell prey to madness.

"NO!" the girl shrieked, trying to snatch the rest of them away from her father, only tearing those up to. With fresh sobs racking her throat, she threw herself to the floor, trying desperately to piece the drawings back together. Time and time again she failed, until, in one more primitive act, she got back up and confronted her father crazily.

"No no no, why? You can't tear them, they're my friends, they're my nakama, they're they're they're the strongest in Fiore, why did you kill-"

She shut up when he backhanded her across the face. Stumbling back, she grasped her cheek.

And smiled softly, very, very subtly.

_So, father isn't just a robot with human skin. Good to know._

He regarded her coldly. "Evidently, you are not yet sane. Now, if I hear about you missing counselling once again, I am afraid that I will not be able to pay for your University course. Understood?"

She nodded dumbly.

"Good. Now begone."

Lucy scurried out of the door. When out in the street, she looked around, expecting mauled corpses or at least something of Fairy Tail to be in her hallucinations.

No, just empty.

Fairy Tail had abandoned its creator.

* * *

><p><em>The dark mage stepped back from the body of his victim, grinning sadistically at her bloodstained blonde hair. Whether or not she was dead, he didn't care. She had cracked, and that was good enough.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN: …I'll edit this later, but I felt that this was in dire need of an update. Sorry if this chapter doesn't live up to expectations. I have to say, this is a change from previous chapters- my idea was that, through the course of the story, Lucy's hallucinations change. Anyway, since the next chapter (should) be the last, would you be a darling and drop in with a review? It would be nice for everyone to hop onto the ship before it leaves… or something like that.<strong>

**Hasta luego, mi amigos!**

**~Meg**


	5. Her Fairy Tail

**AN: Final chapter and boy do I love you guys. This has been my first properly successful story, and I'd like to thank anybody who has read, reviewed or added this story to their favourites. Oh, and just so you know, I'm looking for a Beta reader. Any volunteers can feel free to PM me! Since I don't want to jabber on and ruin the story's end, I'll just say it here.**

**I LOVE YOU ALL! *glomps* Thank you for making this story my best and motivating me.**

***sniffles* They grow up so fast…**

**~Meg**

* * *

><p><em><strong>~Her Fairy Tail~<strong>_

Lucy stumbled home, eyes darting around, scanning and searching for any fragment of Fairy Tail, any fragment of _her. _She didn't care about her sanity, because she had just discovered the real world and decided that it terrified her.

_No, Lucy. Calm down. Stay calm and carry on._

The girl stopped fretting and took a minute or two to compose herself, to push Fairy Tail out of her mind, to forget about it. But how could she? Lucy began to get frustrated at herself. Why couldn't she just be normal? Why did she need imaginary worlds and childhood fantasies in order to function?

But thinking of that would do her no good, because Fairy Tail was dead and so was a part of her. But she would carry on because that was her, that was life, because she was human. Only human. Not a mage, no spirits to help. Only human, and humans persevered. She would persevere no matter what.

So she sat on the bus, staring emptily outside the window. So she walked home, eyes straight ahead, mind fixed on the steady pounding of her feet.

He wasn't there when she got home- to be honest, she was glad. The last thing she needed was for Natsu to come waltzing in and make her question what reality was, to come in and blur the fine line between Fairy Tail and the world. She unlocked the door and simply dumped herself on the sofa – what time was it? – and stared at the ceiling. But it didn't work, she couldn't sleep, wouldn't sleep, because that would only bring them back. So, digging through her medicine cupboard, she retrieved a pack of sleeping pills, staring at them blearily. How many was she supposed to have again? Did it really matter? One… two… one…

One. She may have been distraught, but she wasn't suicidal.

Even so, that one pill made her eyelids- no; her entire body- feel heavy as lead. Lucy only just managed to trudge over to the bathroom, intending to wash her face, before she finally gave in to sleep. A deep, dreamless sleep.

That was good- or so she told herself.

* * *

><p>And so the next morning Lucy woke up on the bathroom floor, hair a mess and back in pain. Which was absolutely <em>fantastic.<em>

With a tired groan, she unwillingly got up and forced herself into the shower. That was nice, warm and steamy, like a slice of heaven. The girl closed her eyes, feeling carefree and comforted as i-

Somebody was hammering on her door, and Lucy was pretty sure that she knew who it was.

She could have answered. She could have turned off the shower, wrapped herself in a towel and confronted her best friend. She could have just pushed it out of her mind that he was a dragonslayer in the imaginary world inside her head and just acted like he was a normal person.

But she chose cowardice, sitting down, watching the water swirl down the drain. And she listened, listened carefully until the knocking stopped and Natsu left. Lucy groaned and leaned her head back, eyes closed as she shivered despite the hot water.

It would all get better with time. No pain, no gain. Can't make an omelette without cracking a few eggs. Now that she had lost her guild, she was reduced once again to infancy. And she would have to crawl through this new world before she could learn to walk, to run, to not be slave to her own imagination.

Keep calm, carry on.

She turned off the shower and went to get dressed.

* * *

><p>It's a rule in every child's life, one guiding principle, so simple and yet so necessary and never to be left unsaid; don't play with matches.<p>

Unfortunately, with some it is lost in translation. Others are fully aware, but they make a stand, a protest, they refuse to obey despite the fact that doing so is pointless, will never benefit them. The moment you forbid a child to do something, they will begin to plot.

Natsu's earliest memories of fire came from lighting candles at his father's funeral.

He'd always been fascinated by the stuff; it seemed to free, so lively. But in his early years, when he lived with his biological family and his greatest worries were wax crayons and whether or not he would win at Pooh sticks, Natsu simply saw fire as an interesting phenomenon, not a way of life. Sure, it was pretty, crackling and burning clear, but he wasn't obsessed, not by any stretch of one's imagination.

It was when he was living with Igneel that he first played with fire. Nothing much- he simply struck a match and watched it in awe before it burnt his fingertips, at which point he blew the flame out.

But he soon found himself attached, addicted to it as his drug. Because with such a beautiful element as fire, how could there be anything wrong in the world? It was his friend and he was its master.

Yet as he grew, Natsu began to sicken of his vice. And he started to hate it because it was a reflection of just how imperfect, how flawed, how pathetic he was. And he hated it because he needed it and craved its warmth, because he was dependant on it, he needed it. He was no longer the master, just a puppet.

But he couldn't go for long without the fire that he now despised. So he kept to it, like the 'pyromaniac' he was.

It was Happy that healed him because with Happy he had a companion, one that lived and breathed. Happy was his and nobody else's. So he needed no fire, no flames, no nothing- he had conquered his demon.

But now _this_. His dreams, his Lucy. Because he knew her, yet they had never met physically because he knew her from his dreams, his dreams of Fairy Tail. So didn't that just make him all the more mad? Was he just a hopeless case, insane, was he still the little boy who sat obediently next to the lake where his mother drowned? And now Lucy was different, changed. He had noticed her re-entering, yet left her alone because he needed time to breathe. Yet she had ignored him- his one confident, his nakama, his _crush_ and the one person in the universe who operated on exactly the same wavelength as he did.

This was too much, too much to cope, because he was weak, fragile, frozen at the age of seven.

He looked through the kitchen drawers and found them.

The matches.

* * *

><p>Twenty five minutes to four.<p>

Time to get going if she didn't want to be late for counselling.

Lucy numbly assembled all essentials in her bag- bus pass, purse, keys, phone…

And a text from Natsu?

Part of Lucy wanted to just delete it and pretend it was never received, but she couldn't hide forever. Besides, Natsu must have gone to much effort, since 'lameass piece of junk' was exactly what it said on the tin. Lucy expected that he was also low on credit.

Sighing and deciding that she would regret such an action, Lucy opened the message.

It was perfectly worded, considering it was from Natsu. But she didn't notice that.

_Do fairies have tails? Do they even exist? Who knows? It's a mystery. An adventure!_

* * *

><p>Ann Eastwood sighed, cleaning her glasses. Lucy was already five minutes late, so she could only hope that the girl would turn up at all. A recent phone call to Jude Heartfilia had led to her being assured of the his daughter's attendance, but that girl was a hopeless case- seventeen years old and still firm in her beliefs of imaginary worlds. And she simply refused to open up, to allow Ann to heal her; was still convinced that by living in her happy place, she too could be felicitous.<p>

The blonde was protected by a wall of her own building. A steel and barbed wire reinforced bulletproof wall that was simply impenetrable.

Ten minutes late. Ann considered making herself a cup of tea before a timid knock informed her of her client's arrived. Adjusting her glasses and smoothing down her skirt to give of a professional air.

"Come in."

The door opened slowly as Lucy scuttled in, looking exceedingly uncomfortable. Her doe brown eyes still darted to and fro, but appeared to have fixed her problem with fidgeting. Which pleased the therapist because, quite frankly (and also unsympathetically), she had found it a constant source of great and unnecessary annoyance.

She gave the teen a stern look. "Your time slot began ten minutes ago, Miss Heartfilia."

The girl mumbled something of an apology.

"Do you have the character profiles I asked for?"

She shook her head, prompting the woman to sigh in exasperation. "Very well, we shall just have to forge on. But you must have them in time for next week, you hear?"

_**The dark mage started when the girl began to move, picking herself off the floor, smiling grimly despite the pain.**_

"I'm not coming next week."

Looking up from the notes she was taking, the lady fixed her client with an icy stare. "Pardon?"

_**On her feet, she reached for the keys at her waist.**_

Lucy was standing strong, hands balled into fists and eyes now fixed. "I wish to terminate our sessions, Ms Eastwood."

Ann supressed her anger and irritation. Who did this girl think she was? "I thought I had discussed the matter of your therapy with your father, had I not?"

_**Crouching down, the girl stuck her golden key into a tiny, pathetic little puddle of a stream.**_

"Yes you did."

"And?"

"He instructed that I attend my sessions until I was better."

_**He moved to attack her, but a lash of her whip caused him to spring away.**_

The woman sighed because the teen was being so… difficult. "Then sit down and stop speaking nonsense."

"No. I am no longer in need of your services. Consider it a free time slot."

"_**Be glad it's me and not Natsu."**_

"Lucinda, what-"

"It's Lucy." The girl snapped before cooling down slightly. "I prefer to be called Lucy, just Lucy." And with that the girl turned on her heel and strode out.

"_**Open the gate of the water bearer: Aquarius!"**_

* * *

><p>When he came home that evening, Jude Heartfilia found a note blu-tacked to his fridge.<p>

_Dear Father,_

_I am writing to inform you that I have cancelled my sessions with Ms Eastwood. I also wish for it to be known that I am putting a stop to all contact with you for the time being. I know you were hit hard by mother's death; guess what?_

_So was I._

_Maybe, one day, we can act like father and daughter again. But until that day comes I will be perfectly content without your presence._

_~ Lucy_

_PS: Fuck you._

* * *

><p>"Oi, Natsu. Natsu. NATSU!"<p>

The boy jumped, snapping out of his daydream as his co-worker scowled.

"Your girlfriend's here."

"But I don't have-"

Another waiter butted in. "If she's not your girlfriend, you'd better hurry up before she finds herself a better guy."

"I'll cover you, just get your ass out there!"

_He fished the matchbox out of the draw and stared at it briefly._

_And then he tossed it into the bin before going to make himself some Pot Noodle._

The boy ran out into the rain, where Lucy was waiting – she forgot her umbrella. Typical.

Yet despite the fact that her wet blonde locks were now sodden, her face lit up when she saw him, even dashing over to meet him.

"You… you know Fairy Tail, don't you?"

He grinned, glad to have the old Lucy back. "Yup. And I'm a kickass dragonslayer."

She frowns. "But why? Why the same dreams? Why-"

"Who cares? You don't have to know everything."

She giggles at his answer because it is just so _goddamn Natsu. _"You realise that this makes us nutters, don't you?"

"Mad. Barmy. Insane. Off our rockers. Batshit crazy."

A smile graced her lips. "And?"

"I don't give a flying fuck."

"Neither do I."

And then he kissed her, because that's just how they were. They had their first kiss outside a small café out in the rainy street, they were mad and standing out in the cold and wet probably wasn't good for their health.

Did they care? No, because their Fairy Tail had just begun.

_**Our Ending, Their Beginning**_


End file.
